The Deal With Zeal

(3) He will not face things. The sluggard comes to believe his own excuses, rationalizes his laziness, and makes a habit of the soft choice. We see this in Proverbs 20:4: “A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.” We know that we’re being a spiritual sluggard if we keep putting off dealing with habits and sins that are harmful to our spiritual lives.

(4) Consequently he is restless with unsatisfied desire according to Proverbs 13:4: “The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.”

Kidner concludes: “The sluggard is no freak, but, as often as not, an ordinary man who has made too many excuses, too many refusals and too many postponements. It has all been as imperceptible, and as pleasant, as falling asleep.”

God calls out his watchmen who were supposed to be alert in Isaiah 56:10: “…They lie around and dream, they love to sleep.” Jesus spoke strong words to the one who did not use what was given to him in Matthew 25:26: “You wicked, lazy servant!” Someone has defined laziness this way: “The tendency to remain where we are in life instead of moving to where we could and should be.” With that definition, who among us is not lazy? What are we going to do about it?

If you know that you lack, and you want to get back, then you can’t slack. Let’s take a shot at quoting our verse again. Romans 12:11: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”

2. But keep your spiritual fervor. If we’re urged to “keep” our fervor that means that we can lose it, right? We need to fight against our tendency to head south spiritually. I was really challenged by what our missionary Rebecca Cox said last Sunday about how she puts on her “spiritual armor” every day because she knows she’s in a battle. This past week in my morning Bible reading, I came across this passage from 1 Chronicles 28:9-10. David wants to make sure that his son Solomon does not become a spiritual slacker: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind…Be strong and do the work.” There’s nothing passive about this, is there? Oh, to hear dads plead with their children like this today!

This second phrase in Romans 12:11 literally reads, “In the spirit boiling over.” I turn to Pastor Jeff again: “The Greek word ‘fervor’ means the sound that water makes when it comes to a boil. It can also refer to the glow of metal when it is super-heated. Jesus is interested in followers who boil in the depths of their souls for Him.”

I was in a church recently and picked up one of their hymnals. When I opened it up I came across John Wesley’s seven instructions for singing from 1761. These directions were given because at that time the hymns were brand new and even daring and some people didn’t like how they sounded. As a result, they stopped singing. I wonder if we have anything like that going on here. I think we can work more diligently at our singing so that our spirit boils over in profound praise.